#4: One More for the Road by Larry Kent

New York P.I. Larry Kent swings into action knocking out a slavery ring in this entry in the long-running series by Australian author Desmond Dunn, One More for the Road.

This series came out as a response to the Carter Brown series, another Australian writing rat-a-tat style detective novels with hot .45s and cold dames, and spawned several hundred entries.

Dunn delivers about what you would expect, with hard-boiled beats and a lack of finely-shaded observations on gender, race, and the leading social issues of the day.  Most surprisingly, Kent is a Viet Nam vet, although the story reads with more of a 40s-50s vibe.

Fun for those who like this kind of pulp.  

I read this one quickly from my beloved Kindle.

#24: Ride the Lawless Land by Kirk Hamilton

Yancey Bannerman and Johnny Cato are private "enforcers" for the Governor of Texas, this time dispatched to hunt a murderous gang, with a pretty but bloodthirsty survivor in tow, in Kirk Hamilton's Ride the Lawless Land, part of the Bannerman the Enforcer series.

Hamilton, really Australian writer Keith Hetherington, wrote scores of novels, many of them part of this lengthy series.

This is a pretty standard oater with familiar pacing, as Bannerman and Cato pretend to be outlaws (and dress their companion up as a boy) in a loosely-assembled and quickly-resolved plot.

Agreeable enough western from Piccadilly Publishing that I read on my beloved Kindle quite quickly.

#7: Valley of Skulls by John Benteen

In the early 20th century, tough mercenary Fargo heads to Central America to rescue a party who has discovered a priceless treasure in John Benteen's Valley of Skulls.

Benteen (Ben Haas) was a well-regarded western writer who also wrote the Fargo series, which at first glance look like westerns but are really more "men's adventure."

This one is a little wilder than most, with the priceless treasure being a giant solid-gold cannon that Fargo finds actually comes in handy.  Fargo's manly exploits start on page one--when he gets into a fight at a cockfight!--and run straight through to the last page.

I like reading a Fargo novel when I come across one, and I found this one cheap for my beloved Kindle.

#5: The Gun is My Brother by Cy James

Sam Spur is a hired gun who is forced to kill a preacher, and finds an entire poisonous town turned against him, in Cy James' first Spur novel, The Gun is My Brother.

James was actually Matt Chisholm who was actually prolific Australian writer Peter Watts, an author who wrote multiple western series at a breakneck pace.  His Blade series is pretty action-packed and mindless, his McAllister series is much more serious and hard-boiled, but this Spur novel is probably darker and bleaker still.

Spur gets bushwhacked and shot up near the outset, and spends a lot of the novel just trying to stay alive, until he is finally pushed into gunplay that shrinks the size of the town by some measure.

I have read a number of McAllisters but will definitely get another Spur novel soon.  I got this for my beloved Kindle and read it quickly.

#54: The Tuscon Conspiracy by Matt Chisholm

Joe Blade is on special assignment for the governor of the Arizona Territory to root out some bad men, but when the governor's evil twin (!) gets the upper hand mayhem is unleashed in Matt Chisholm's The Tuscon Conspriracy.

Chisholm was steadily prolific British writer Peter Watts, whose McAllister series of hard-boiled westerns I have really enjoyed.  Blade is another series character whose adventures rely more on high adventure, and seem less grim and gritty than McAllister's. 

My taste runs more to the former, but lots of action here keeps this one agreeable.

I bought this for my beloved Kindle from Piccadilly Publishing.

#9: The Indian Incident by Matt Chisholm

The unlikely-named Joe Blade is a manhunter for hire, but decides to hunt for free when he stumbles over a gang of outlaws who slaughter a band of Indians in Matt Chisholm's The Indian Incident.

Chisholm was an incredibly busy western writer with multiple series characters; I have read several of his McAllister books and enjoyed them. 

Where McAllister is leavened with some humor, Blade is all action, action, action, culminating in a big shoot-out in a cave where Blade and an eclectic group have holed up.

This was a fast-paced read I enjoyed from Piccadilly Publishing, who is bringing a lot of Matt Chisholm back to the digital realm.  A good read for western fans.

#76: Undercover Gun by Brett Waring

Clay Nash is forced off his humble homestead by an unscrupulous land baron, and takes a roundabout revenge through becoming a Wells Fargo agent in Brett Waring's Undercover Gun, the first in a long series returning to ebook via Piccadilly Publishing.

Waring was in reality Australian author Keith Hetherington, who was also Hank J. Kirby and Kirk Hamilton, an incredibly prolific western writer.

Waring puts enough plot in this one to cover a couple of stories, as Nash is chased through the desert, rides shotgun on some stages, has fist fights and gun fights and is nursed back to health a few times, before finally exacting revenge, and setting the stage--so to speak--for future adventures with Wells Fargo.

I enjoyed the first of Hamilton's Bannerman series, which I also read through Piccadilly Publishing, and liked this one as well.  Good for fast-action western fans.

I bought this for my beloved Kindle and read it quickly.

#28: McAllister on the Comanche Crossing by Matt Chisholm

Range-tough McAllister takes a band of colorful characters on a doomed cattle drive, dogged by stormy weather, hostile Indians, and general bad luck in Matt Chisholm's rambunctious cattle-drive epic McAllister on the Comanche Crossing.

McAllister featured in a number of oaters penned by Chisholm (actually British writer Peter Watts), and it is Chisholm himself who laconically narrates the action in the story, with amusing results.

There is also plenty of tough, wide-open action in what is a pleasing western from the Piccadilly Cowboys, a hearty band of Brits who wrote generally spaghetti-flavored westerns from the 60s onward.

I got this one from Piccadilly Publishing for my beloved Kindle and will definitely look for more of Matt Chisholm.

#16: The Enforcer by Kirk Hamilton

Yancey Bannerman is the son of a wealthy west coast patriarch, yet prefers the dusty Texas trail; but when his wayward brother gets into hot water, he's drawn back into the family's problems in Kirk Hamilton's The Enforcer.

The Enforcer was the first in a long series of westerns featuring Bannerman, actually written by Australian Keith Hetherington, who used a batch of other pseudonyms as well for various western series. 

Bannerman is aided by Johnny Cato, a helpful gunsmith with an unusual weapon, and plenty of drinking, fighting, and shooting ensues.  It all leads to a tidy wrap-up which dovetails into the rest of the book series, where Bannerman and Cato are special "enforcers" for the Governor of Texas, a salty character himself.

This is an agreeable western from Piccadilly Publishing, which specializes in bringing these British and Australian writers of Italian-style westerns to light.  I bought this for my beloved Kindle and read it quickly.

#8: Drift! by Marshall Grover

Two rowdy Texas cowpokes end up helping a schoolmarm intent on testifying against an outlaw in Marshall Grover's laconic Western Drift!

Drift! was the first of Grover's long-running series featuring Larry and Stretch, two hard-drinking and hard-fighting Texans who nonetheless have hearts of gold.  This entry was an even mix of tongue-in-cheek comedy and raucous action, with engaging characters.  The formula apparently worked for a long while.

I had never heard of Marshall Grover before the new year, and yet have read two inaugural series novels from Grover this month, liking them both. Leonard Meares was an Australian author who wrote as "Marshall Grover" and under a passel of other names.

I read this quickly on my beloved Kindle via Piccadilly Publishing, who seem intent on bringing back tons of classic Westerns from (primarily) British writers.

#1: The Night McLennan Died by Marshall Grover

Big Jim Rand resigns his military commission to hunt the man that shot his brother in the back; but the trail turns towards a town under siege that needs a new deputy quick in Marshall Grover's The Night McLennan Died.

Piccadilly Publishing is re-issuing this long-running western series by the prolific Grover, and I snatched this first one up at an introductory price for my beloved Kindle.  Leonard Meares was the Australian author who wrote as "Marshall Grover" and kept busy with other pseudonyms as well.

Grover writes a burly western full of tough action and gunplay, with little time for frontier romance (though a wily Mexican sidekick provides some mild comic relief).  I prefer my westerns lean and laconic, and this one delivers.

This is my first introduction to Marshall Grover, and I will look for more of his writing.

#23: Blaze of Glory by Ben Bridges

On his last day in office, an aging sheriff ends up with a handful of trouble in Ben Bridges' Blaze of Glory.  Soon there are old scores to settle as well, even as the townspeople believe their town has become too sleepy for a full-time sheriff.


I enjoy Bridges' writing as part of the "Piccadilly Cowboys," a group of British writers who write American-style westerns.  I have read several of Bridges' novels and have found them all to be sturdy, enjoyable outings.

His Piccadilly Publishing line of both classic reprints and contemporary writing is worthwhile to Western fans.

I got this cheaply for my beloved Kindle and read it quickly.

#14: Three Rode Together by Ben Bridges and Steve Hayes

A cowboy under special orders from the president, a freed African slave who can speak to horses, and Native American legend Geronimo become an unlikely trio who stand against a crooked Indian agent, a racist army officer, and a handful of murderous miners in Three Rode Together.

Despite being compelled by the rather offbeat plot, I actually picked this up for my beloved Kindle solely based on the cover, which clearly featured an homage to Italian spaghetti western star Terence Hill.

I also have previously enjoyed the work of western writer Ben Bridges, one of the "Piccadilly Cowboys," British writers who for whatever reason love the American West.

As one might suspect, this was a fun but undemanding western saga that I read quickly.  Recommended for western readers looking for something a bit different.

#1: The Red Hills by James W. Marvin

The antihero called Crow joins the U.S. Calvary, just ahead of a modest skirmish called Little Big Horn, in The Red Hills, James W. Marvin's first Western featuring his cold-blooded protagonist.

This novel comes from the so-called Piccadilly Cowboys, (follow this part closely) British writers who wrote Italian-flavored American Westerns in their heyday from the 60s forward.  Marvin obviously read George Gilman's Edge rather closely (and I think even obliquely references the character), probably the grandaddy of all the tarnished heroes of this genre.

But Crow tries to outdo Edge, as the novel opens with the senseless killing of a child's dog, which sets the stage for further unpleasantness involving casual murder and generally repugnant behavior.  In The Caine Mutiny style, a commanding officer is introduced who is even more repellent, and soon Crow sets his sights on revenge.

Interesting, but generally unpleasant, Western for those who like a more tough-minded oater.  I bought this for my beloved Kindle and read it quickly for my first novel of 2013.

#34: Draw Down the Lightning by Ben Bridges

Gun-for-hire O'Brien gets involved with a fiery ranch widow (is there any other kind?) and a heap of varmints angling for her herd in Ben Bridges' brawny western Draw Down the Lightning.

Bridges is a contemporary scribe from a group of British writers who favor American Westerns (collectively called The Piccadilly Cowboys), who can trace their roots back to George G. Gilman and others.

Amazon is constantly suggesting I buy one of Bridges' novels for my beloved Kindle, so I selected this one based on the title alone (Bridges seems to be re-issuing his work and the work of others for ebook at a rapid rate, so there were plenty to choose from).  I found it to be a solid, enjoyable Western with plenty of action and some unique storytelling elements (including the breeding of the widow's herd).

I would definitely look for more work from Ben Bridges and his British counterparts.